Prevalence of minor physical anomalies in children with autism spectrum disorder reporting to a tertiary care hospital Lahore-Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To assess the frequency and type of minor physical anomalies (MPAs) in subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from September, 2016 to October, 2020. Using purposive sampling technique, 147 subjects with ASD were recruited from Children’s Hospital and Institute of Child Health (CH & ICH) Lahore, with a confirmed clinical diagnosis by developmental pediatrician, using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). For morphology assessment, 12 body regions of ASD subjects were examined using Autism Dysmorphology Measure (ADM) manual after taking informed consent. Physical measurements (height, weight, head circumference, ear length, philtrum, hand, finger and foot length) were also taken and were compared with the available standard charts. Results: A total of 381 dysmorphologies were identified in 131 (89.1%) ASD subjects whereas 16 subjects had no dysmorphology at all. Microcephaly was exhibited by 14 (9.5%) subjects, out of which 13 had variable number of dysmorphologies while one had no dysmorphology in other body regions. Out of 131 subjects exhibiting dysmorphologies, there were 108 male and 23 female subjects, with a M:F ratio 4.7:1 whereas microcephaly was observed in 12 male and two female subjects, with a M:F ratio 6:1. The highest number of dysmorphic features were noted in the ears, followed by feet and hair growth pattern. Conclusions: MPAs associated with ASD are frequently found in, but are clearly not limited to, the head or facial region. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.7.6639 How to cite this:Rabia A, Mahmood S, Maqbool S. Prevalence of minor physical anomalies in children with autism spectrum disorder reporting to a tertiary care hospital Lahore-Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(7):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.7.6639 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.